The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1887-09-09

Au1uueu ulm nus express rtllc, at tho ean0
ttmo taking my owl
Nov them" I whispered, "mind you
don't miss"
"Missy" he whispered back, contemptu-
ously; ~ could not miss 1t IL I tricd.n
He lifted the rifle, md the r~oan-colored
Duck, having drunk his Ii, raisedhis head
n looked out across the river. Ho was
standing right against the sunset sky on q
little cminencc or ridge of ground that ran
across tho swamp. evidently O favoritc
path Tor game, and there was something
very beautiful about him.
Bangl Away he goes with a mighty
bound. Leo has missed him. Bang! RIGHT
under him again. Now for ashot, Unjust
have one, though he is going like IN arrow.
and a hundred yards away and more. Nv
Jovc! over and over and over. "Well. /
think I've wiped your eye there. Master
Leo" say, struggling against tho ungcn.
erous exultation that in such a supreme
moment of one's existence will rise in tho
best tutored sportsman's breast.
"Confound you, yes!' growlel Leo: and
then, with that quick smile that is one OF
his charms lighting up his handsome face
like a ray of light, 81 beg your pardon, old
fellow! Icongratulate you; it was aloyely
shot. and mine were VILE"
We got out of the boat and ran tn ths
buck, whick was shot through the SHINE.
and stone-dead. It took us a quarter Of AN
hour or moro to clean it and cut Off as
much of the best meat us we could carry.
and having packed tins away We had
barely light enough to row up into the 10
gooN-lisc space, into which, there being .
hollow In the swamp, the river here ex.
panded. just as the light vanished we
cast anchor about fifty yards from the edge
OF the K We did not dare to 20 ashore.
not knowing II we should find dry ground
TO camp on, and greatly fearing the poison.
Gus cHhalations from the marsh, which we
thought we should be freer from on the
Rad1r: So we lighted a lantern, and made
Sur evening meal off another potted tongue
IN the best fashion that we could, and prc.
pared to go to sleep, only, however, to find
smut sleep was impossible. Tor, whether
ehey were attracted by the lantern, or by
The unaccustomed smell of q white man,
for which they had been waiting for the
last thousand years or SO, I know not; but
certainly we were presently attacked by
tens OF thousands of the most blood-thirsty,
p~erJnacious, n huge mosquitoes that /
ever saw or read of. In clouds they came,
and pingcd and buzzed and bit till we
were nearly mad. Tobacco-smoke only
seemed to stir them into q merrier and
more active life, till ut length we were
driven to covering ourselves with blankets,
head and all, and sitting to slowly stew
and continually scratch and swear beneath
them. And as we sat, suddenly rolling
out like thunder through tho silence came
the deep roar Of a lion, and then of a second
lion, moving among the reeds within fifty
yards Of us.
II say" said Leo. sticking his head out
from under his blanket, "lucky we amt
on the bank, eh, Av%uncularp" Cleo some-
LINES addressed mo in this d~isrespcctful
way) "Curse it! q mosquito has bitten mo
on the nose" and the head vanished again.
Shortly after this the moon came up, and
Notwithstanding every variety of roar that
echoed over the water to us from the lions
on the banks, we began, thinking our
selves perfectly secure, to gradually doze
off.
Idon't quite know WHAT Il was that made
me poke my head out Of the friendly shell
ter of the blanket-perhaps because found
that the mosquitoes were biting right
through It. Anyhow, as I did SO I heard
Job whisper, in a frightened voice, "Oh,
my stars, look therc!"
Instantly we all Of us looked, and this
was what we saw in the moonlight. Near
the shore were two wide and eyer-widen-
Ing circles OF concentric rings ripping
away across the surface of the water, and
In the heart and center Of the circles were
two dark moving objects.
"What is its" asked ].
ut is those damned lions, SIR" answered
job, In q tone which was an odd mixture
OF q sense Of personal injury, habitual re-
spect, and acknowledged fear. land they
are swimming hero to heat us" he added,
nervously picking up an "h' in his agita-
ton. Hooked again, there was no doubt
about It; I could catch tho glare Of their
feroctous eyes. Attracted either by the
smell of the newly-killed water-buck meat
or Of ourselves, tho hungry beasts were
actually storming position.
Leo already had his rife in his hand. 1
shouted to him to wait till they were near
er, and meanwhile grabbed my own. Some
fifteen feet from us the water shallowedon
Q bank to o depth of about fifteen inches,
and presently the first of them-it was tho
Ioness-got on to it, and shook herself and
toared. At that moncn Leo fired, and
the bullet went rlghtdown her open mouth
n out at the buck of her neck, and down
She dropped, with 81 splash dead. Tho
second Iona full-grcwn male-was sor
o PAGES behind her. AT this second
his foTe-raws on "a the lapk VIII
v.range thing happened. There was a rush
a q DISTURBANCE Of tile water, such as
n sees in u pond In England when q pike
takes q little fish, only u thousand times
aercer and larger, and suddenly the lion
gave a most terrific snarling roar, and
sprung forward on to the bank. dragging
something blnck with him.
"AllHhl" shouted Mahomcd. ga croco.
die has got him by tho leg" And sure
enough he had. We could see the long
enout with its cleaning lines of teeth, and
the reptile body behind it.
And then followed q scene that absolut
IL battles description. The lion mana
~ act well an to the bnnk. tho crocs
hnlf standing and half swimming, still.
nipp;ng his hind leg. He roared till the
air quiye,ed with the sound, and then,
with q savage, shricking snarl, turned
round and ,clawed hold of the crocodile's
head. The crocodile shifted his grip, hay-
ing, as we afterward discovered, had one
of. his eyes torn out, and turned slightly
over, andIfnstantly the lion: got him by the,
throat, and held on, and then over and
over they rolled upon the bank Struggling
hideously. It was Impossible to follow
their movements, brt when next we got
clear view tho tables had turned; for tho
crocDdiie, whose head seemed to bea mass
of gore, Ind got the lions body In his iron
1aMs lust above the hips. and WAS squeess